Оxford_dictionary_of_law 1 page

Book Description

Now greatly improved and expanded for the 6th edition, the dictionary boasts a wealth of new features including recommended weblinks, feature entries on key topics, and greatly expanded coverage of European and International law, as well as key jurisprudence (legal theory) terms. It also includes a brand-new Writing and citation section that specifically addresses problems and established conventions for writing legal essays and reports.

Described by leading university lecturers as ' ... the best law dictionary at present ...' and ' ... excellent for non law students as well as law undergraduates ... ', this classic dictionary is a handy and invaluable source of legal reference for professionals, students, and anyone else needing succinct clarification of legal terms.

Synopsis

This best-selling dictionary is a comprehensive source of clear, jargon-free legal information. It focuses primarily on English law and provides a one-stop source of information for any of the many countries that base their legal system on English law. Over 4,300 entries define and explain the major terms, concepts, processes, and organization of the legal system. Now greatly improved and expanded for the 6th edition, the dictionary boasts a wealth of new features including recommended weblinks, feature entries on key topics, and greatly expanded coverage of European and International law, as well as key jurisprudence (legal theory) terms. It also includes a brand-new Writing and citation section that specifically addresses problems and established conventions for writing legal essays and reports. Described by leading university lecturers as ' ...the best law dictionary at present ...' and ' ...excellent for non law students as well as law undergraduates ...', this classic dictionary is a handy and invaluable source of legal reference for professionals, students, and anyone else needing succinct clarification of legal terms.

abandonment

1. The act of giving up a legal right, particularly a right of ownership of property. Property that has been abandoned is res nullius (a thing belonging to no one), and a person taking possession of it therefore acquires a lawful title. An item is regarded as abandoned when it can be established that the original owner has discarded it and is indifferent as to what becomes of it: such an item cannot be the subject of a theft charge. However, property placed by its owner in a dustbin is not abandoned, having been placed there for the purpose of being collected as refuse. In marine insurance, abandonment is the surrender of all rights to a ship or cargo in a case of *constructive total loss. The insured person must do this by giving the insurer within a reasonable time a notice of abandonment, by which he relinquishes all his rights to the ship or cargo to the insurer and can treat the loss as if it were an actual total loss.

2. In civil litigation, the relinquishing of the whole or part of the claim made in an action or of an appeal. Any claim is now considered to be abandoned once a *notice of discontinuance is served, according to rule 38(1) of the *Civil Procedure Rules.

3. The offence of a parent or guardian leaving a child under the age of 16 to its fate. A child is not regarded as abandoned if the parent knows and approves steps someone else is taking to look after it. The court may allow a child to be adopted without the consent of its parents if they are guilty of abandonment.

abatement

1. (of debts) The proportionate reduction in the payment of debts that takes place if a person's assets are insufficient to settle with his creditors in full.

2. (of legacies) The reduction or cancellation of legacies when the estate is insufficient to cover all the legacies provided for in the will or on intestacy after payment of the deceased's debts. The Administration of Estates Act 1925 provides that general legacies, unless given to satisfy a debt or for other consideration, abate in proportion to the amounts of those legacies; specific and demonstrative legacies then abate if the estate is still insufficient to pay all debts, and a demonstrative legacy also abates if the specified fund is insufficient to cover it. For example, A's estate may comprise a painting, £300 in his savings account, and £700 in other money; there are debts of £100 but his will leaves the painting to B, £500 from the savings account to C, £800 to D, and £200 to E. B will receive the painting, C's demonstrative legacy abates to £300, and after the debts are paid from the remaining £700, D's and E's general legacies abate proportionately, to £480 and £120 respectively. When annuities are given by the will, the general rule is that they are valued at the date of the testator's death, then abate proportionately in accordance with that valuation, and each annuitant receives the abated sum. All these rules are subject to any contrary intention being expressed in the will.

3. (in land law) Any reduction or cancellation of money payable. For example a lease may provide for an abatement of rent in certain circumstances, e.g. if the building is destroyed by fire, and a purchaser of land may claim an abatement of the price if the seller can prove his ownership of only part of the land he contracted to sell.

4. (of nuisances) The termination, removal, or destruction of a *nuisance. A person injured by a nuisance has a right to abate it. In doing so, he must not do more damage than is necessary and, if removal of the nuisance requires entry on to the property from which it emanates, he may have to give notice to the wrongdoer. A local authority can issue an abatement notice to control statutory nuisances.

5. (of proceedings) The termination of civil proceedings by operation of law, caused by a change of interest or status (e.g. bankruptcy or death) of one of the parties after the start but before the completion of the proceedings. An abatement did not prevent either of the parties from bringing fresh proceedings in respect of the same cause of action. Pleas in abatement have been abolished; in modern practice any change of interest or status of the parties does not affect the validity of the proceedings, provided that the cause of action survives.

abduction

The offence of taking an unmarried girl under the age of 16 from the possession of her parents or guardians against their will. It is no defence that the girl looked and acted as if she was over 16 or that she was a willing party. No sexual motive has to be proved. It is also an offence to abduct an unmarried girl under the age of 18 or a mentally defective woman (married or unmarried) for the purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse. In this case a defendant can plead that he had reasonable grounds for believing that the girl was over 18, or that he did not know the woman was mentally defective, respectively. It is also an offence to abduct any woman with the intention that she should marry or have unlawful sexual intercourse with someone, if it is done by force or for the sake of her property. It is also an offence for a parent or guardian of a child under 16 to take or send him out of the UK without the consent of the other parent or guardians. Belief that the other person has or would have consented is a defence. It is also an offence for any other person to remove or keep such a child, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, from the person with lawful control of him. Proof of belief that the child was 16 is a defence here.

See also land registration.

abstracting electricity

The *arrestable offence, punishable with up to five years' imprisonment and/or a fine, of dishonestly using, wasting, or diverting electricity. This offence may be committed by someone who bypasses his electricity meter or reconnects a disconnected meter or who unlawfully obtains a free telephone call (though there is a more specific and potentially less serious offence to deal with this). Bypassing a gas or water meter could constitute *theft of the gas or water. Joyriding in a lift (or some similar abuse) might also constitute wasting electricity. Computer hackers were formerly charged with offences of abstracting electricity until the Computer Misuse Act 1990 made *hacking a specific criminal offence.

abstraction of water

The taking of water from a river or other source of supply. It normally requires a water authority licence but there are exceptions; for example when less than 1000 gallons are taken, when the water is for domestic or agricultural use (excluding spray irrigation), or when it is removed in the course of fire-fighting or land drainage. It has been held not to include gravitational loss from a canal replacing water drawn from a connecting outfall channel.

abstract of title

Written details of the *title deeds and documents that prove an owner's right to dispose of his land or an interest in this. An abstract generally deals only with the *legal estate and any equitable interests that are not *overreached. An owner usually supplies an abstract of title before *completion to an intending purchaser or mortgagee, who compares it with the original title deeds when these are produced or handed over on completion of the transaction. An abstract of title to registered land consists of *office copies of the entries in the register (together with an *authority to inspect the register) and details of any other documents necessary to prove the owner's title, such as a marriage certificate proving a woman's change of surname. For unregistered land, the abstract of title must usually trace the history of the land's ownership from a document at least 15 years old (the *root of title) and give details of any document creating encumbrances to which the land is subject. An abstract of title formerly comprised extracts, often in abbreviated note form, but now generally comprises duplicate copies of the relevant documents (an epitome of title). An abstract or epitome, with each copy document marked as examined against the original, may be sufficient in itself to deduce title; for instance, when a title is split into lots, the purchaser of each lot may be required to accept an examined abstract or epitome in lieu of the original title deeds, accompanied by an *acknowledgment and undertaking.

abuse of a dominant position

Unlawful activities by large businesses, i.e. usually those having a market share of at least 40% in at least one EU state. Examples of such activities, which are contrary to *Article 82 of the Treaty of Rome and the UK Competition Act 1998, include refusing to supply an existing customer and engaging in *predatory pricing. The European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading can fine businesses up to 10% of annual worldwide turnover for breach of Article 82. The record individual fine, of 102M ECUs (now euros), was against Volkswagen in 1998; it was upheld on appeal in July 2000. Under the UK Competition Act 1998 a £3.21M penalty was imposed on Napp Pharmaceuticals.

See anticompetitive practice.

abuse of process

A tort where damage is caused by using a legal process for an ulterior collateral purpose. (See also malicious prosecution). Actions that are obviously frivolous, vexatious, or in bad faith can be stayed or dismissed by the court as an abuse of process.

abusive behaviour

See threatening behaviour.

ABWOR

Advice by way of representation: assistance formerly given to a person by taking on his behalf any step in the institution or conduct of any proceedings before a court or tribunal under the provisions of the legal advice and assistance scheme. The legal aid scheme under which ABWOR was created was replaced by the *Community Legal Service from 1 April 2000. Under the new scheme, the authorization of legal representation for the purposes of a particular hearing is now in a form called help at court.

ACAS

Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service: a statutory body that was established under the Employment Protection Act 1975; the composition and functions of ACAS are now governed by Parts IV and VI of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. ACAS was set up to promote the improvement of industrial relations and the development of *collective bargaining. In its conciliation function it may intervene, with or without the parties' consent. in a *trade dispute to offer facilities and assistance in negotiating a settlement. It employs conciliation officers who may assist parties to an application to an employment tribunal to reach a settlement. Earlier legislation removed the necessity for binding settlements of employment disputes to involve an ACAS conciliation officer: settlements can now be made when the individual has had independent legal advice from a qualified lawyer.

ACAS does not itself arbitrate in trade disputes, but with the consent of both parties it may refer a dispute to the *Central Arbitration Committee or to an independent arbitrator. ACAS may give free advice to employers, employees, and their respective representatives on matters of employment or industrial relations. It issues codes of practice (*code of practice)giving guidance on such matters as disciplinary procedures and *disclosure of information to trade unions. It may also conduct inquiries into industrial relations problems, either generally or in relation to particular businesses, and publish the results after considering the views of parties directly affected. ACAS can charge for its services when it considers that this is appropriate. The law on conciliation generally is contained in the Employment Tribunals Act 1996.

acceleration

The coming into possession of a *future interest in any property at an earlier stage than that directed by the transaction or settlement that created the interest. For example, a landlord's interest in *reversion is accelerated if the tenant surrenders the lease before it has expired. When a will bequeaths an interest for life that lapses (e.g. because the legatee dies before the testator), the interest of the person entitled in *remainder is accelerated and takes effect immediately the testator dies.

acceptance

Agreement to the terms of an *offer that, provided certain other requirements are fulfilled. converts the offer into a legally binding contract. If the method by which acceptance is to be signified is indicated by the offeror, that method alone will be effective. If it is not, acceptance may be either express (by word of mouth or in writing) or inferred from the offeree's conduct; for example, if he receives goods on approval and starts to make use of them. The acceptance must always, however, involve some action on the part of the person to whom the offer was made: the offeror cannot assert that his offer will be treated as accepted unless the offeree rejects it. The validity of an acceptance is governed by four principal rules.

(1) It must take place while the offer is still in force, i.e. before it has lapsed (See lapse of offer) or been revoked (See revocation of offer).

(2) It must be on the same terms as the offer. An acceptance made subject to any variation is treated as a counteroffer.

(3) It must be unconditional, thus an acceptance subject to contract is not a valid acceptance.

(4) It must be communicated to the offeror. Acceptance by letter is treated as communicated when the letter is posted, but telex is equated with the telephone, so that communication takes place only on receipt.

However, when the offer consists of a promise to confer a benefit on whoever may perform a specified act, the offeror waives the requirement of communication as a separate act. If, for example. he offers a reward for information, a person able to supply the information is not expected to accept the offer formally. The act of giving the information itself constitutes the acceptance. the communication of the acceptance, and the performance of the contract.

acceptance of a bill

The written agreement by the person on whom a *bill of exchange is drawn (the drawee) that he will accept the order of the person who draws it upon him (the drawer). The acceptance must be written on the bill and signed. The signature of the drawee without additional words is sufficient, although generally the word "accepted" is used as well. Upon acceptance the drawee becomes the acceptor and the party primarily liable upon the bill.